Business Matters: Island Topsoil

HONOLULU (KHON2) — If you’re looking to plant pretty much anything you’ll need soil. And, whatever type you need, Island Topsoil has it.

In this Business Matters report, the company turns green “Into” green.

“Here we have one of our rows. It’s about three weeks old. What you’re seeing is a combination between carbon and nitrogen when I say carbon and nitrogen cycle recipe or putting it together,” said David Souza, Island Topsoil:

It’s said that one man’s waste, is another man’s treasure. That’s certainly the case for Island Topsoil.

“At island topsoil, we have soil, different soil products. We do compost different growing products, potting soil, lawn soil,” said Souza.

“What we’re looking for is aeration. We want the air to get in the pile, and we wanted to breathe and live,” added Souza.

To make sure everything is exactly how they want it, they take the temperature of the piles on a daily basis and check the moisture content as well. And, if the temperatures are high or the soil is too wet.

There’s a machine for that.

But, the best part for Island Topsoil is what they ultimately provide to the customer comes to them free of charge. In fact, they even make a few bucks for every load they take in.

“Everything comes in as green waste. Coming from different landscapers are contractors’ homes, backyards, people that are cleaning the lawn,” explained Souza.

“We take all that green waste, and we grind it and turn it into compost,” added Souza.

It’s a process. He said that it takes about three months with multiple checks along the way to ensure the soil remains fresh clean and free of all contaminants.

The company originated on the Big Island in 1990 and expanded to Oahu in 1994. Then, came the economic downturn in 2008.

“So, we tried to diversify. Try to be more sustainable. Try to generate different types of revenue coming in,” said Souza.

So, they not only opened a general contracting and design company, they started Island Farms.

“We have a hog farm. We have about 250 sows. Pretty large for the state of Hawaii, really modern up-to-date,” said Souza.

“It’s a lot of technology and computers to help us feed the animals using vegetarian certified grain diet. I’m pretty much providing fresh local island pork,” confided Souza.

And, back to Island Topsoil which after three months goes from this (pointing to rubbish

To this. (showing topsoil)

This is our final product. You can see the moisture is right, and this is what makes everything grow. This is what you would buy in the store in a bag but only way better, yes, way better. Ha ha. Locally. Made here in Hawaii for Hawaii,” said Souza.

And, he said the secret to success is data.

“Having the right data to ensure our product is fresh. The numbers are up. The counts are up and providing to our customers. They know they’re going to get the best product? Yes, they’re going to get the best time, and we have the documents to back up that our materials at what they’re getting is pure,” concluded Souza.